By Rhys Turrell

The Nigerian midfielder played the full 90 minutes in the club’s final pre-season friendly in the USA as they fell to a 1-0 defeat against AC Milan, the Blues' second in a row

John Obi Mikel has insisted that Chelsea are moving in the right direction despite losing their second consecutive game on their USA pre-season tour.

The Champions League winners lost 1-0 against AC Milan in Miami after going down 3-2 against the MLS All-Star team.

But, despite those two setbacks, midfielder Mikel, who has seen his place in the side come under threat following the arrivals of Eden Hazard and Oscar, is not concerned and thinks that the club are well placed to hit the ground running when their season kicks off against Manchester City in the Community Shield on August 12.

“I feel good, I think it was a good game for us,” the 25-year-old told Chelsea’s official website after his first full run-out of pre-season.

“It was not the result we would have wanted but there are positives we can take and try to build on it.

“We didn't create many chances, but there were opportunities and maybe we were just one pass or one run short, so we are getting closer to how we want to be, and if we can keep doing what we are doing we will start to open teams up and improve our play.